The effects of soil preparation and doses of nitrogen on grain and straw dry matter production and N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S and Zn accumulation by corn plants (Zea mays L.) cultivated under irrigation were evaluated in a field experiment in a Dark Red Latosol (Oxisol), originally under cerrado vegetation, at Embrapa-Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Milho e Sorgo experimental station, in Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil, from November, 1995 to June, 1996. The soil preparation systems studied were: no till, conventional till with disk plow and conventional till with moldboard plow. The nitrogen doses were: 0, 60, 120 and 240 kg ha-1 N, applied in cover. The highest productions of grains and straw dry matter and nutrients accumulation were obtained in the no till system. In the doses of 60 kg ha-1 N, the greatest efficiency and the highest recover of applied N by the crop occurred.
Zea mays; nutrition; savannah
